


A Metanarrative of a Sort

by Cuffs_Alister



Series: A Test of Will and the Strength of Fate [2]
Category: Green Lantern - All Media Types, Teen Titans (Comics), 신의 탑 | Tower of God
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Confident Twenty-Fifth Baam | Jyu Viole Grace, Experiment, Families of Choice, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Writing Exercise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:01:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27952769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cuffs_Alister/pseuds/Cuffs_Alister
Summary: Bam just wanted to be with his light bringer.  Instead, he's ended up somewhere else entirely, and he wasnotprepared.
Series: A Test of Will and the Strength of Fate [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1930873
Comments: 3
Kudos: 26





	1. Narrative Distance

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter is kind of a mess - the perspective character is missing a lot of vocabulary, because we're in Bam's head most of the time, and he grew up in a cave, with one person.

Bam thought he was going to find Rachel in the Tower from her stories. If this was the Tower, though, he wasn’t sure he’d live to find her. 

He ducked as another… something blasted apart the earth beside him. When he looked up, there was a person in front of him. Big black shoes led to black pants led to a brown shirt lead to a red… something where the person’s head should have been. 

“Kori? No, still no contact with double R. Most of the Titans are down. Nah, they’ll live. ‘Specially that Super-kid. Still no sign of the JL?” The voice was coming from the red thingy. Bam had no idea what most of that sentence meant. Maybe this man could help him though.

“Um- excuse me sir?” Bam said, tugging on his pant leg.

The man swung around, pointing a… short metal thingy in his face. Bam blinked at it before he looked up at where the man’s face should have been. 

“Jeez, you’re just a kid. I thought the speedster got all civilians out of the area,” the man said before he put down the thingy. 

“Sir, what’s a speedster?” That probably wasn’t the first thing he should have asked, but Rachel had never told him about speedsters.

The man went very still for a moment, before he stuck his thingy to his pants and put his finger under the red thing. He pulled it up to reveal a very human face with eyes like the moss in his cave - the ones that glowed. 

“A speedster is someone who’s super fast. Like the Flash, or Impulse. You’ve heard of them, right?” The man said. 

The ground had stopped blasting. Bam relaxed a bit. “I don’t think so. Rachel never told me about anyone named Flash.” 

The man looked around him before putting a hand to his ear. “I’m with that civilian. Arsenal, Starfire, things cleaned up on your end?” He nodded.

Bam took the moment to look around himself then. The place was wide open, with so many different colors everywhere. But most astonishing of all, there above him wasn't a ceiling. It was a bright, blue sky, with a glowing yellow sun. 

“Um, sir?” Bam said, poking the man in his leg. 

“What is it, kid?” he asked, crouching down so that he wasn’t looking down at Bam anymore. 

“Where am I?”

***

The man had introduced himself as Red Hood, and brought him to meet some other people. Apparently they were in a place called California.

“Is that in the Tower?” Bam had asked.

Mr. Red Hood had just blinked at him for a bit before saying he didn’t think so. 

There were lots of things here in California that Rachel hadn’t told him about -- Speedsters and Super-boys and Tamaranians were just a few. 

The Tamaranian lady was really nice. Bam met her on this large metal thing Mr. Red Hood had called a space-ship. 

“My name is Koriand’r,” she said. “What is your name?”

“I’m the 25th Bam,” Bam said with a smile, because Rachel said you should always introduce yourself with a smile. “You can just call me Bam though.”

“Bam. It is a nice name. Is it an Earth name, Jason?” she asked Mr. Red Hood. 

“Um, Miss Koriand’r, he said his name is Mr. Red Hood,” Bam tried to correct softly. 

Miss Koriand’r swept him up into a hug and swung him around like he didn’t weigh anything. Rachel had never done anything like that. She wasn’t as warm as Miss Koriand’r either. 

“I’m pretty sure whoever named him had a sick sense of humor. Who names a kid with golden eyes like that _night_?” Mr. Red Hood replied. 

“Rachel named me,” Bam said. Miss Koriand’r had him sitting in her lap. Bam didn’t mind, but he couldn’t help but wonder why she hadn’t pushed him away yet.

Mr. Red Hood was blinking at him again. “This Rachel,” he said. “She wouldn’t happen to be Rachel _Roth_ , would she?” 

Bam’s forehead crunched up as he thought about it. “She never told me any name but Rachel. Is there more than one?”

“Rachel’s a pretty common name, bud,” Mr. Red Hood told him. “Can you tell me what she looks like? Maybe we can help you find her.” 

Bam tried to think of as many details about Rachel as he could. “Well,” he said, “She has yellow hair that she ties up behind her head. Her eyes are also yellow, like stars, I think. Her skin is light like yours, but it had spots all over it.” 

Just then, another man walked in, this one with bright orange hair and-

“Like that man!” Bam pointed to the new person. 

Mr. Red Hood laughed, and Bam smiled, though he wasn’t sure what he said that was funny. “She has freckles then.”

Bam tilted his head to the side. “Is that what they’re called? I asked her and she wouldn’t tell me.”

That got him more stares, from both Mr. Red Hood and the new man. 

“Roy, this is Bam,” Miss Koriand’r said, pulling Bam in closer. “He is very sweet and lovely, and he does not know many things, like I did not know many things when I came to Earth.” 

“Hey Bam, name’s Roy Harper. Sometimes I go by Arsenal,” Mr. Harper said. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Harper,” Bam said with a smile. Rachel said you should always introduce yourself with a smile.

***

Jason really had no idea what to make of this Bam kid. He didn’t seem to have much personality of his own beyond _nice_. He seemed like he could be the same age as Tim, but he was so naive that he couldn’t possibly be nearly an adult. 

He couldn’t, in good conscience, keep the kid with the Outlaws. Apparently his next of kin was this Rachel. No last name. Most identifiable feature, golden eyes. Until they found her, though, he was going to need a place to stay. 

It went against his better judgement, but Jason was seriously considering dropping him off with Bruce. There was no way they were leaving him with Oliver, and dropping him off with a metahuman family seemed like it would just confuse the kid more. 

As it was, Bam was starting to look uncomfortable in Kori’s lap. 

“Hey, Kori? I think Bam wants to get down.” 

Kori set Bam gently on the floor, where he proceeded to just look more sheepish. Something was really wrong here. 

“Bam?” He used the voice he used to talk to victims. “We’re going to try to find Rachel for you, ok?”

Bam nodded, looking at the floor. This was all wrong. He didn’t even flinch at the gun in his face, but now he couldn’t look Jason in the eye? 

“Until we do though, you’re going to need a place to stay.”

“He can stay with us, can’t he Jay-bird?” Roy asked, smiling softer than he had in a long while. 

“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. We’re not exactly what I would call _decent_ people, you know?” Jason let a bit of a chuckle enter his voice. “I do have a home for you in mind, though, if you’re ok with that Bam.”

“You are good people, Mr. Red Hood! You helped me when the ground was flying apart and Miss Koriand’r gave me wonderful warm hugs when I was scared, and even when I wasn’t scared anymore. I promise I won’t be any more trouble.” Bam was looking at Jason, his golden eyes almost seeming to glow with his intensity. 

Jason sighed. “Bam, I appreciate that, really, but our lifestyle won’t be good for you. While the family I have in mind wouldn’t be the _most_ stable per se, they at least live in one place.”

“You want to leave him with B, don’t you?” Roy said, looking more at Bam than at Jason. 

Kori moved to scoop Bam up again, but thought better of it. “Oh, Dick will just adore you, I know he will.”

Bam smiled a bit, but Jason could see right through it. The kid thought they were abandoning him. They’d just have to prove him wrong.

***

Bam wasn’t sure who this B person was, but Mr. Red Hood (Mr. Jason?) thought he was trustworthy, so Bam was willing to give him a chance. Miss Koriand’r and Mr. Harper seemed a bit more nervous, but they also seemed to trust Mr. Red Hood’s judgement. 

With that, Miss Koriand’r got their space-ship headed to someplace called Gotham.

The space-ship, Bam decided, was similar to his cave. He couldn’t see the sky while he was in it, but there was something comforting about the enclosed space. Unlike the cave, though, it was well lit, and made out of metal. There were places that glowed green, too, like Miss Koriand’r’s eyes. Rachel would have hated it, but Bam couldn’t help but think it felt like home.

***

“I managed to get in touch with B,” Mr. Red Hood told Bam as the ship settled down. “He’s looking forward to meeting you.”

“I’ll do my best to make a good impression,” Bam said, nodding like he used to for Rachel’s lessons.

Mr. Red Hood put a hand on Bam’s shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll do fine with that, kiddo. I’m more worried about how the rest of the family’s going to react. They can be a lot, so if you get overwhelmed, just let B know.”

Bam felt his back go rigid. He couldn’t possibly impose on a whole family. 

“Kid? Bam, it’s going to be alright. You don’t have to meet anyone but B if you don’t want to.” Mr. Red Hood was talking to him, he understood that, but most of the words were just passing over his head. 

He needed to do this though, and clearly his reaction was having a negative effect on Mr. Red Hood. Bam mustered up all of his cheerfulness and willpower, forcing himself to relax. 

“It will be ok, Mr. Red Hood. I can meet them all.” Even though he didn’t know how many there were. 

Instead of looking happy for Bam’s ability to meet this family, Mr. Red Hood’s face looked strained, like Rachel’s did when Bam did something wrong. But Bam didn’t know what he did wrong. He was just trying not to upset Mr. Red Hood, or this mysterious B. 

“Look, Bam, you don’t have to do anything, or meet anyone you don’t want to. I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to meet everyone all at once. It doesn’t seem like you know very many people. We could even hang out outside of the city for a while if you want to get used to things.”

He didn’t have to meet them? But Mr. Red Hood said he couldn’t stay with him. Maybe though-

“Can Miss Koriand’r and Mr. Harper come with us?” They were nice, good, _safe_ people, and if anything went too wrong, Bam was sure Miss Koriand’r could sweep him up out of trouble. 


	2. Metaphor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Wayne Manor is far enough from the Gotham Center that the light pollution doesn't obscure too many of the stars, and Mr. Harper teases Mr. Jason mercilessly.

The mysterious B turned out to be a man named Bruce. He lived in a large- shelter outside of a place Mr. Red Hood called Gotham. Mr. Red Hood had explained that Bruce took in a lot of kids who had nowhere else to go. Mr. Red Hood didn’t agree with some of Bruce’s ideas about life, but he still thought that this was the best place for Bam to stay.

Bam probably would have been more nervous about meeting Bruce if he hadn’t looked up while they were on the- Mr. Red Hood called it a motorcycle- and seen the sky. In California the sky had been bright blue and full of sunshine. It had been warm, just like Rachel said it would be. In Gotham, though, the sky was dark and full of little twinkling lights. They must have been stars. They were just as beautiful as Rachel said they would be. 

“It’s beautiful,” Bam said as they dismounted in front of Bruce’s shelter. He was still looking up, even more stars visible here than there had been before. 

“Yeah, yeah she is,” Mr. Red Hood sighed. He put a hand on Bam’s shoulder again. “Roy and Kori should be here soon. Do you want to stay out here until they arrive?”

Bam looked away from the stars for a moment to look at Mr. Red Hood. Mr. Red Hood wasn't looking at the sky. “Can you tell me about the stars until then?”

“Sure kid.” Mr. Red Hood said, patting his shoulder. 

“Thank you, Mr. Red Hood.”

“Please, call me Jason.”

“Ok Mr. Jason.”

Mr. Jason sighed.

***

Mr. Jason had been pointing out constellations to Bam when Mr. Harper and Miss Koriand’r drove up on their own motorcycle. Bam swallowed and mustered his courage. Rachel said he should always be brave when facing new situations, and so he would be. 

All four of them walked up to the front door together. Mr. Jason knocked, and they waited. 

A tall, thin man with hair on his lip answered the door. 

“Hello Mr. Bruce, my name is the 25th Bam, but you can just call me Bam. It’s nice to meet you,” Bam said with a smile. Because he should always introduce himself with a smile.

That smile fell as the man quietly observed him. “Master Bam,” he finally said. “While I am pleased to meet you as well, it would appear that there has been a mistake. My name is Alfred Pennyworth. I am Master Bruce’s butler.” 

Oh no! He’d already made a bad impression on someone in the shelter. He should have known that it wouldn’t be Mr. Bruce at the door.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Pennyworth. That was very rude of me to assume,” Bam apologized. 

“It is quite all right sir. Master Bruce is anxious to meet you, as I imagine you are him.” Mr. Pennyworth didn’t seem upset, and he wasn’t telling him off like Rachel would have, but Bam still felt bad about the mistake. 

“If you would please, come inside. The night air is lovely, but I fear that the mosquitos are making an attempt to make the manor their home as well.” 

Right, they were here to meet Mr. Bruce, and Mr. Jason was with him, and Mr. Harper and Miss Koriand’r too. He could be brave. He needed to be brave. 

“Thanks, Alfie,” Mr. Jason said as they entered the shelter. Bam’s forehead scrunched up a little. Was Alfie another name for Mr. Pennyworth? Why did people have so many names? Rachel had never told him about this. 

Thoughts of names and confusion all left Bam as he got a good look at the inside of the shelter. There was so much to look at- so many colors and so many items he didn’t have words for. What immediately caught his eye, though, was a light hanging from the ceiling. It had clear dangly pieces that shone like stars as the light passed through them. It was beautiful.

“You just gonna gawk at the chandelier all day?” Mr. Jason asked. When Bam turned to him, he was smiling, even though the question had seemed reproachful. 

“Of course not Mr. Jason! I’m sorry,” Bam apologized.

“Hey. No worries. I gawked a bunch the first time I came here too.”

“I had never seen such opulence. It was stunning and disgusting, just how much the wealthy-“ Mr. Harper started.

“Cut it out Roy or I swear to God-“ Mr. Jason interrupted.

Mr. Jason, in turn, was cut off by a soft cough to their left. Another tall man stood there- hair dark like Mr. Jason’s, but with eyes that almost seemed bluer than the sky in California. He wasn’t smiling. In fact, he had a similar disapproving expression as Rachel would when Bam did something wrong. 

Had Bam already done something wrong?

“Jason,” the man said, “you have someone to introduce?” He raised one eyebrow. 

Mr. Jason’s face turned pinkish then. “Uh… yeah.” He grabbed Bam by the shoulder, pulling him almost into a hug in front of him. “This is Bam. He’s the kid I told you about.”

He stepped to the side of Bam then, looking him in the eye. “Bam, this is Bruce.”

“H-hello Mr. Bruce. It’s nice to meet you. I’m the 25th Bam, but you can call me just Bam.” He was trying to smile, really, but he had a feeling it didn’t look right at all.

Mr. Bruce’s face changed then. It became less… hard. “Hello Bam. It’s nice to meet you too.”

Maybe he wasn’t upset with Bam after all. 

Mr. Bruce continued, “Would you like to come to the study? We can discuss our plans there.”

“Of course Mr. Bruce! But…” Bam’s voice dropped at the end. Mr. Bruce probably only wanted to talk to him, not Mr. Jason or Mr. Harper, or Miss Koriand’r. 

“Jason and his friends are welcome to join us, if that’s what you want,” Mr. Bruce said.

“Thank you, Mr. Bruce,” Bam said softly.

***

Bart Allen understood that there was no getting around being in a hospital. He was severely injured, after all. That didn’t mean he had to like it. 

To be out of commission right around the time he was supposed to stop Tim from disappearing though? He liked that even less. He’d just have to hope that someone was keeping an eye on him. 

Someone was keeping an eye on Tim.

Right?


	3. Foils

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bam takes on some challenges, some knowingly and others decidedly not.

Mr. Bruce was stern, but had a soft heart. Bam quickly decided he liked him. Mr. Dick, whom he met later, also seemed nice, although he was more prone to touching Bam, and very loud. 

Bam didn’t want Mr. Jason, Mr. Harper, and Miss Koriand’r to leave, but Mr. Jason promised that they’d be back to visit. He could do this. He could be brave until Mr. Jason came back. 

The next morning at breakfast, though, Bam met Damian.

“Clearly, Drake is incompetent, if he couldn’t even manage to stay with his team.”

“Dami, it’s not his fault he vanished,” Mr. Dick said. 

“Are you certain he didn’t simply wander away?”

“Who’s Drake?” Bam asked, rounding the corner into the kitchen. Mr. Dick was sitting with a small boy whose round face Rachel probably would have called _cute_. 

Both Mr. Dick and the boy- probably Dami- looked up at him at the question.

Mr. Dick smiled, but something about it didn’t seem real. “Tim Drake is our brother. He’s… well, he’s missing right now. From about the place Jason found you, actually.”

Dami tutted. “So this is the latest child Father has seen fit to take in.” He gave Bam a look that almost made him want to return to the cave. 

“I promise I won’t be a… burden.” Bam had to think about his words. “I’ll go away as soon as I find Rachel.”

Yes, he would go with Rachel once he found her. 

“You will be burdensome regardless,” Dami said. “You are small and weak-”

“Dami, don’t talk to him like that.” Mr. Dick cut in, elbowing Dami. “You don’t know anything about him.”

Bam looked at the ground for a moment, clenching his fists. “No, he’s right. I am weak- small and powerless.” There was no way he could help and protect Rachel in his current state. He looked up at Dami then. “So help me become stronger.” 

Dami’s mouth twisted up on one side, even as Dick opened his mouth like a cave. 

“My training will not be easy. Are you certain of your decision?” Dami asked. His eyes glinted. 

Bam looked straight into them- briefly noticing how green they were- and answered, “Absolutely.”

It wouldn’t be until after breakfast that Bam would realize he never introduced himself to Damian.

***

Later that day, Damian- not Dami- brought Bam to a room full of books. There was a not-bed in the middle of the room, with a table. Bam sort of wanted to take a nap on the not-bed -- it looked soft -- but Damian bypassed it, headed straight for one of the storage places for books. He pulled out one.

“Are we going to start with reading?” Bam asked, before his eyes widened. Before him, the book-storage opened to show a deep, dark hole with a yellow pole in the middle. 

“No. We’re going to start with conditioning,” Damian answered before hopping off the edge of the floor to grab the pole and slide down. 

Bam followed him, more carefully. 

At the bottom, once Bam’s feet touched ground again, he realized they were in a cave. This one, though, was very different from the cave he was used to. 

It was dark, yes, but that darkness was cut with bright lights like the ones upstairs, rather than the glowing mosses of his home-cave. There was a dull humming sound coming from a strange series of boxes to one side. From the other, he could hear the screeches of something. It was likely a small animal, or a number of them. 

Then, there was a great, loud, _moo_ from part of the cave Bam couldn’t see. He frowned. Rachel had said cows go _moo,_ but he was pretty sure they didn’t live in caves. 

“Damian, is there a cow down here? Do they live in caves?” Bam asked. 

Damian’s shoulders tensed, before he slumped. “Cows do not normally live in caves, no. However, Batcow is a special case.”

_Batcow_ turned out to be a brown and white cow with strange markings on her face. She licked Bam’s face when he got too close, trying to look at her big, brown eyes. They were pretty, shining like some of the rocks in his cave when they broke open. 

Damian had laughed at him for that, but Bam didn’t mind, really. After all, it meant Batcow liked him, didn’t it?

***

As much as Damian said he was going to be a tough teacher, Bam wasn’t sure he would agree. 

Damian led him through stretches carefully, with guiding hands whenever Bam was unsure of how he should position himself. Then, he taught Bam some exercises: crunches- where Bam had to sit up partially without using his hands, push ups- where Bam had to try and move the floor with his arms but usually just ended up moving himself, lunges -- where Bam had to move from kneeling on one leg to the other across the floor. Damian said they were starting off basic, because Bam had “no muscle mass whatsoever”. 

Except for the push ups-- which were mostly just frustrating-- Bam thought the exercises were actually fun. 

Then, once Damian thought he was warmed-up enough, he had Bam start with “combat training.”

“I want you to throw a punch, just into the air in front of you,” Damian said. “I need to assess how much I’ll need to fix your form.”

So Bam threw a punch, and even though it didn’t hit anything, Damian looked physically pained. 

“You’re doing it all wrong,” he said, tutting. “Here, like this.”

Damian stood with his hands in front of him, left foot forward, body slightly sideways. His thumbs were on the outside of his fingers. As he extended his right arm straight out from the shoulder, his body turned, legs also turning slightly on the balls of his feet. His knuckles glanced off Bam’s shoulder.

“Now show me again,” Damian ordered. 

Bam nodded, somehow certain that he was going to do it right this time. He got into position, took a deep breath, and punched.

Damian’s arms dropped to his sides, brow furrowed. 

“Did- did I do it wrong again?” Bam asked. He hadn’t moved since he’d thrown the punch. 

“No. Quite the opposite,” Damian said under his breath. “You executed it perfectly.”

Bam relaxed. 

“Do it again.”

Bam did, same as the last time. 

“Once more.”

Bam did. 

With each strike, Damian frowned deeper and deeper. “Now do the same on the other side,” he said.

Bam- well, Bam tried, but he felt his elbow go weird somewhere in the middle. He tried again, only to over-rotate his arm. 

“Either you are incredibly right hand dominant,” Damian said, “or there is something else afoot here. No, no, let me show you.”

Bam hadn’t stopped trying to make the left punch work. It felt like every time he tried, something different was wrong. At Damian’s word, he froze. 

This time, Damian stood beside him, in the same stance. His arm extended perfectly from the shoulder, just like Bam was sure it was supposed to. Bam tried again, focusing on executing it the same way Damian did, but once again, something went wrong. 

“I’m sorry, Damian. I don’t know why I can’t make it work,” Bam said, hanging his head. 

Damian’s hand landed on his shoulder. “You are- doing remarkably well for someone as weak and unskilled as yourself,” he said. “You must not become discouraged because you haven’t perfected your form in-” Damian paused- “twenty minutes.”

“But I got the right side so fast,” Bam argued, looking up from his feet. “Why was that side so different?” 

“Perhaps you are simply _very_ right handed,” Damian said. “That is something we can train out, but it will take time.”

His smile, encouraging in a way Bam hadn’t seen before, turned into a smirk. “Time and practice, at any rate. So let us hop to it.”

Bam felt himself smile as well. He could do this. Time, practice, and determination, and eventually he’d be able to protect Rachel. (Or maybe even Damian, a quiet part of his mind whispered.) 

Once Damian thought his form on the left side was acceptable, they moved on to blocks and dodging. Damian walked him through everything slowly, by his side. He only yelled a couple of times, and that was only when Bam got lost in his own head. Before too long, Damian was leading him through cool-down stretches. 

“I must away. The night is calling,” Damian said, as they stood up from a twisty back-stretch on the ground. 

“Will you- will you be here in the morning?” Bam asked, heart in his throat. 

“Tt, of course I’ll be here in the morning. This is my home,” Damian said, almost laughing. 

Bam sighed relieved. “Can we- do this again tomorrow?”

Damian squinted at him for a moment before crossing his arms and turning away. “I would not deem it- appropriate. However, Batcow has taken a liking to you, and I am certain she would be disappointed, were you to never enter the cave again.”

Bam smiled openly. “I’d hate to make Batcow sad.”

***

The longer he was in the watchtower medical facility, the more on-edge Bart became. It had already been a couple days. Kon was down for the count, Cassie was healing up fine, but had to stay off one of her legs, and Bart was sure he was fine. 

The only one missing was Tim. None of the nurses had said anything about him. Grandpa had dodged any questions about him. Even Jaime had been incredibly quiet about Tim. 

Something was up, and as soon as Bart was allowed to leave the Watchtower, he was going to find out what that something was. 


	4. Parallels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's something strange about Bam that only really comes out in training. Damian decides to get to the bottom of it.

The next morning after warm ups, Damian had Bam show him everything they’d gone over the day before. His right punch was still in perfect form, but everything else was- wobbly. 

“Maybe your defense needs an offense in order to get stronger,” Damian suggested before dropping into a fighting stance, this time across from Bam. “Let’s try a light spar- see how you fair.”

Bam wasn’t sure he was ready for that, but if that’s what Damian thought was right, he was going to do it. He steeled himself for what was sure to be a difficult spar, even if Damian thought it was light.

As they began, Bam failed at defending himself, just as he expected. _Unexpectedly_ , though, he did get better as the fight went on. Not only did his defensive positions get better, though, his left punch got cleaner too.

Damian stopped them when Bam nearly kicked him in the ear. “I didn’t teach you any kicks, Bam. What do you think you’re doing?”

Bam dropped his gaze to the floor. “Um… I don’t know. I just sort of acted on… instinct.” Yes, that was the word Rachel said meant unintentional reactions. “I saw you do it earlier in the spar and then the opening was there-”

“Your form was-” Damian paused. “Nearly perfect. That shouldn’t be possible for someone who has only seen the move-”

This time, Bam looked up. Damian was looking at him more intensely than anyone ever had. Granted, Bam could count the number of people who had looked at him on his hands, but still, it was kind of scary. 

After a long pause, Damian continued, “or experienced the move once. The right straight. I grazed your arm, did I not?” 

“Um…” Bam scrunched up his eyebrows, trying to remember. “I think you might have. Why does that matter?”

“It matters,” Damian said, the corner of his mouth once again twisting up, “because this means we need to take a DNA test. Followed by more sparring.”

Bam wasn’t sure what a DNA test was, but it seemed like he was going to be finding out very soon. He really wished Damian would just explain what he was thinking, though, instead of implying it. 

The DNA test ended up involving Damian sticking a stick with a puffy tip inside Bam’s mouth and wiping it around the insides of his cheeks. It tasted unpleasant when the puff touched his tongue, but Damian had insisted that this was necessary. That he might have a _metagene._

He didn’t bother to explain what a metagene was. 

Before he and Damian could return to their training, Mr. Dick came down the pole, shouting for _Dami and Bam Bam_. Something about tumbling. Bam hoped Mr. Dick was ok, if he’d been tumbling anywhere.

***

Learning tumbling was harder than learning martial arts, if you asked Bam. Mr. Dick was very patient with him though, even as Damian swung on the swinging bars above them. Mr. Dick had called them _trapeze_. He kept acting like falling should be a fear Bam needed to overcome though. 

Bam couldn’t remember a time when he’d been scared of falling. He’d always just gotten right back up. He’d even gotten back up after he tumbled down the tower of rocks he’d built to escape his cave.

Though, maybe that time it was because Rachel had been there.

Bam went quiet as Mr. Dick fussed over Damian, who had somehow gotten tangled in the safety net. These people were lovely, and they taught him things, and they hardly ever got upset with him, but none of them could replace Rachel. She was, after all, his star. 

***

Mr. Jason came back to visit a couple days later. Bam felt something uncomfortable welling up inside him at the sight of the bandage on Mr. Jason’s head. 

“Are you alright, Mr. Jason?” he asked, before he’d even said hello.

Mr. Jason gave Bam a… Damian had called it an _unimpressed_ look. “I’m fine, Bam,” he said. “You’re in pretty rough shape yourself. What’d you do, get in a fight with a bear?”

“I’m not sure what a bear is, Mr. Jason, but I’m ok. Damian and I have been training, is all.” Bam smiled up at him. “I’ve been learning lots of ‘self defense’ from him. Oh! And Mr. Dick has been teaching me to tumble.”

“That’s… well, I’m glad Dick’s been helping you learn something. It looks like I’m gonna need to have a chat with Damian though,” Mr. Jason said. He was smiling at Bam, but both his eyes and mouth were closed. 

Bam scrunched his eyebrows up. Rachel used to make that look when Bam did something wrong sometimes. “Did I do something wrong, Mr. Jason?” 

Mr. Jason’s face melted out of that smile into the one Mr. Dick made sometimes when Bam would compare the cave under their house to the cave he came from, or when he would fall from a greater height than Mr. Dick thought he should be comfortable with. 

“No, you didn’t- why would you think you did something wrong?” Mr. Jason asked.

Bam absently started digging his toe into the floor, hands held hard behind his back. “I recognized your expression. You were smiling, even though you were unhappy.”

Mr. Jason knelt down in front of Bam then, hand on his shoulder. “Have you seen me make that face before?” he asked.

“Oh no, it was- sometimes, if I said something wrong, or forgot to be polite-” Bam couldn’t look him in the eyes. It almost felt queasy to talk about. 

Much to Bam’s surprise, Mr. Jason pulled him into a hug before he could get any further. “Hey, it’s gonna be ok, kid. Let’s- let’s go make some hot chocolate, yeah?”

Bam wasn’t sure what hot chocolate was, but just about anything sounded better than trying to talk about when Rachel had been upset with him. 

***

“Damian, what do you think you’re doing?” Mr. Bruce asked from the top of the stairs. 

Damian and Bam were training again. They’d done all of the warm ups already -- the stretches, the exercises, Damian even had him start doing weights -- and they’d been in the middle of a spar. Bam fell over as he had to stop short of actually hitting Damian once he wasn’t paying attention anymore.

“I am simply training Bam to be a competent fighter. Do not worry, Father. I am taking care of his conditioning as well,” Damian said while Bam got himself up off the matts. 

Mr. Bruce had his nose between two fingers. It drew attention to the dark spots under his eyes. “Bam’s been here less than a week. How, precisely, did you think it was a good idea to start sparring with him?”

“This strange thing keeps happening- if Damian hits me with a new move, it’s like I learn it immediately,” Bam jumped in. It wasn’t Damian’s idea to keep going like this. He shouldn’t have to suffer for it. “I asked him to keep teaching me.”

Mr. Bruce was looking at him now, but he still spoke to Damian. “You discovered this together?” 

“I have started a DNA analysis, Father. It should be concluding soon,” Damian replied. 

A _beep_ came from the set of boxes in the corner. 

“It would seem the Bat-computer has finished the analysis,” Damian said. Bam could hear the tilt of his mouth, even if he couldn’t see Damian’s face. 

Mr. Bruce came down the stairs, coming to a stop in front of the boxes -- the Bat-computer? Damian pulled Bam up and dragged him over to join Mr. Bruce. 

The Bat-computer had a picture with several parts flashing. Mr. Bruce and Damian were both just staring at the picture. Bam scratched his head.

“What does it mean?” Bam asked. He would be very grateful for someone explaining right about then. 

“It means,” Mr. Bruce said, “Damian was right. You are a metahuman.”

“Oh. Is that a good thing?” Bam asked. He couldn’t tell one way from another with Mr. Bruce’s body language. 

Mr. Bruce turned to Bam then, posture softening. “It’s not a good thing, or a bad thing, Bam. It’s just a part of you.”

“Oh…” Bam could feel his voice disappearing, more than hear it. 

“But,” Mr. Bruce added, “You seem intent on _making_ it a good thing.”


	5. Foreshadowing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bam's less obvious superpower comes to the fore.

There was a new person in the manor. Bam knew this, not because he saw them and introduced himself, but because he woke up to a crash and some very loud shouting. He peered out of his bedroom door to find Damian holding a needle to the neck of a person who was talking at him so fast that Bam couldn’t understand what they were saying.

“IswearI’monlyheretocheckonTimcanwepleaseputtheswordaway?” the new person said. 

Bam blinked a couple of times before exiting his room. Damian was growling at the new person. 

“Damian, why are you fighting this person? Did they hurt you?” Bam asked. He followed it up with a yawn.

Before Bam could blink, the new person was in front of him, maybe a bit too close. 

“Hi! I’m Bart. Damian’s just being a stinker, don’t worry about him. Did Bruce adopt you too?” they-he-Bart asked.

“I’m-yawn- Bam. It’s nice to meet you Bart,” Bam answered. He left the question about Mr. Bruce. Why would Mr. Bruce have adopted him?

Bart was blinking at him now though. His expression was becoming more and more… scared? Like Mr. Dick’s had been the time Bam fell off the trapeze the day before. 

“Nonono this isn’t- It wasn’t supposed to happen yet. I- I need to talk to Bruce. IneedtotalktoBruceassoonaspossible.”

“Slow down, Allen. He’s never met a speedster before- he can’t understand you,” Damian supplied. 

Bam got the jist though. Bart needed to talk to Mr. Bruce, about the missing member of the family. And he needed to do it because Bam was there. 

“I think Mr. Bruce is away right now, but I’m sure he’ll talk with you when he gets back,” Bam answered matter of factly. Then, as it occurred to him, He asked, “Are you the Flash?”

***

Bart was not, in fact, the Flash. This, Bam discovered at the same time as he discovered Bart’s appetite. 

Damian seemed uncomfortable with Bart’s talking through his mouthfuls of tea-sandwich, but Bam was amazed. He didn’t know it was possible to do both at the same time- talking and eating. He and Rachel had always eaten in silence.

“The Flash is my gr-mentor. My great mentor,” Bart explained. “I go by Impulse.” 

He sat up prouder at that.

“But yeah, do you know when B’s supposed to be home? I think I know where Tim’s gone off to now and it’s so not crash.”

“Bart, what have we said about the future slang?” Mr. Bruce asked. Bart visibly jumped.

“That it just causes more questions and could expose me…” Bart answered, shrinking into himself. 

Mr. Bruce was looking at Bart the same way he sometimes looked at Damian, or Mr. Dick, or Mr. Jason- sort of a tired, barely there smile. 

“That aside, you have potential information on Tim’s whereabouts?” Mr. Bruce pressed.

Bart swallowed the bite of tea sandwich he had been chewing, and answered, “I mean, since Bam’s here, it’s safe to assume he’s gone into the Tower at this point.”

Tim- Tim was in the Tower? But that was dangerous! He hadn’t been prepared at all, and if Mr. Jason’s confusion when they met was anything to go by, he didn’t even know about it. 

“We have to go save him!” Bam said, before Mr. Bruce could ask any questions. 

“What do you mean, Bam? Is Tim in danger?” Mr. Bruce asked slowly-softly. 

“Rachel said the Tower was a very dangerous place, but if you climbed to the top, you could have your wish granted. If he didn’t even know the Tower existed though, he- he’s probably so lost and confused and-“ Bam ran out of words. He just- he’s never met this Tim, but clearly he was important to everyone he’d met in this world. 

Mr. Bruce crouched in front of him, a hand on his shoulder. “It’s ok, Bam. Tim’s a smart, capable, inventive kid. I’m sure he’s figured it out and is working on a way home.” He stood up and continued. “It would probably behoove us to send a team after him though.” 

“You gotta send me B,” Bart pleaded. “I have to help him.”

“Because he’s your friend?” Bam asked. 

“And likely because he knows something about the future outcome if he doesn’t go,” Mr. Bruce added, eyes narrowing. 

Bart nodded, quickly, and repeatedly. “I can’t actually say much because spoilers, but I can say it’s bad. Totally not crash.” At Mr. Bruce’s look, he added, “or… asterous?” 

Mr. Bruce sighed. “We’ll need to discuss it with the league. And regardless, we’re not sending you into an unknown situation alone.”

“I’ll go,” Bam said, straightening his spine. “I’ll go into the Tower with Bart.”

“Bam, why-“ Bruce started.

“I was trying to get to the Tower when I ended up in the middle of that field in California. Tim was there, wasn’t he?” Bam said. “It’s at least partially my fault he ended up there in the first place.”

“You've only been training with Damian for a week,” Mr. Bruce reminded him. 

“That’s more than I had before.”

It looked like Mr. Bruce was going to argue, but before he could, the window crashed inward, and something hit Bam in the head hard enough that he fell over on the couch. The room was filled with green light.

As Bam sat back up, he noticed that the green light was coming from a small floating ring. 

_The Twenty-Fifth Bam, you have the ability to overcome great fear. Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps,_ it seemed to announce.

Bam found himself drawn to the ring, reaching out, almost despite himself. He grabbed it with one hand as he rubbed the growing lump on his head with the other. The green light died as his hand closed around it.

Off to the side, Mr. Bruce had his head in his hand. 

“Is something the matter, Mr. Bruce?” Bam asked.

Bart snickered, and Mr. Bruce threw him a sharp look.

“No, Bam. At least not with you,” Mr. Bruce answered.

“He’s just praying he doesn’t have to interact with Guy Gardner,” Bart added. 

“Who’s interacting with Guy Gardner?” Mr. Dick asked, poking his head in from the hallway. 

Mr. Bruce sighed again.

***

Bam was once again awoken by strange happenings at the manor. This time, it was a bright green light outside his window. 

Or was it _inside_ his window? The ring - a Green Lantern Power Ring, as Mr. Bruce had explained - was glowing almost as much as whatever was outside. Bam scooped up the ring off the floor next to his sleeping area, slipped on the shoes Damian had given him, and snuck up to the window. 

Bam stood up in his surprise. There, outside his window, a glowing green man was floating. A mask covered his face, much like Mr. Jason and Mr. Harper had been wearing when they found him, his dark hair falling over the top of it. If he wasn’t wearing the mask, it would probably have been in his eyes. If Bam had to put a word to his presence, he would probably chose _graceful_ \-- the way his toes pointed toward the Earth and his arms hung relaxed at his sides, chin raised ever so slightly. 

He opened the window. 

“Sir,” Bam called. “Is-”

“Rayner,” a voice from above Bam cut him off. It was -- crunchy -- almost like Bam’s had been when he first spoke to Rachel. 

“Batman,” the glowing man- Mr. Rayner- answered, his voice ticking up. “I promise I’m not here to pester you.”

Why would Mr. Rayner need to say that? 

“You’re here to train him.” Mr. Batman said. 

The green- Mr. Rayner was there for Bam. He must have been a part of this _Green Lantern Corps_ the ring had mentioned. 

“You can’t have him!” A higher voice called from somewhere else on the roof. It sounded like Damian, but… more broken. 

“It’s not like I’m going to keep him, Robin,”Mr. Rayner tried to sooth. “He needs to learn to use the ring though.”

In answer, something flew at Mr. Rayner from the roof. It bounced off a green barrier that formed between Mr. Rayner and Damian- Robin.

“Mr. Rayner, if you can teach me how to do what you’re doing, I’ll gladly go with you,” Bam shouted from his window. 

“Bam?” Robin shouted from the roof. “You’re _my_ student.”

“And I promise I’ll keep being your student. I just… I need to bring your brother back, and this will help.” 

“Why? Why do you need to bring him back?” Robin’s voice cracked as he shouted. 

Bam knew Robin couldn’t see him, but he smiled softly anyway. “Because he’s someone’s star. And I don’t think he disappeared on his own.”


	6. Author’s Playlist- Infinity by Super M

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bam is making progress, in knowledge, willpower, and self-reflection.

Jason had been concerned before- apparently the kid he found had been raised in a cave of all things. Sure, the ex-Robins might joke about that sometimes, but it was never as literal as it was with Bam. 

But when he discovered Bam could read micro expressions of displeasure… his concerns had skyrocketed. That, paired with the discomfort with prolonged contact and the significant vocabulary gaps was painting a picture of this Rachel person Jason wasn’t sure he liked. 

“What’s eating you, Jaybird?” Roy asked. Jason hadn’t heard him come in.

“Nothing. I’m just… distracted,” Jason said.

“It’s Bam, isn’t it,” he answered for himself. 

Jason sighed. “Yeah, yeah it’s Bam. Kid’s only been at the manor a week, and he’s almost as good at reading microexpressions as Black Bat.”

“He what now?” Roy asked leaning back. “You know, I’m not sure reuniting him with this Rachel person’s such a good idea.”

“He’s determined though. And I get the feeling, when that kid puts his mind to something, he’s _going_ to do it.”

Roy looked pensively over Jason’s head for a moment. “Y’know, I could see if Dinah’d be willing to talk to him.”

Jason raised one eyebrow. “You want to send the kid to therapy?”

“I mean, yeah. It might help him realize just how unhealthy his interactions with this Rachel must have been. God knows she helped me.”

That wasn’t a half bad idea, actually. 

“I’ll talk to Bruce about it. I can’t imagine he’d be against it. Last time I was there, it seemed like he was on the verge of forging Bam a birth certificate so that he could adopt him.”

“Maybe you should recommend B meet with Dinah too. Seems like he has a problem.”

“Oh he definitely has a problem.” 

They both cracked then, breaking down in laughter. 

***

“What do you mean, he’s not here?” Jason roared. 

Bruce sat calmly on the other side of his desk. Jason had a very strong urge to put the paperweight on the desk through the window. 

“He’s been- chosen by the Corps.”

Jason really wished he could revel in the pained expression Bruce was making, but he realized he was probably making one not too dissimilar.

“Which Corps?” Jason asked through grit teeth.

Bruce tapped his fingers on the desk. “The Green Lanterns.”

That… wasn’t as bad as Jason thought, actually. He almost laughed when he realized why this made Bruce look so pained. 

“So who picked him up? Jordan or Gardner?” Jason asked. He knew he was giving Bruce a shit-eating grin- this was too sweet not to. 

“Rayner, actually,” Bruce grumbled.

Oh. Oh hell no. 

Just like that, it was like a switch had flipped on Jason’s emotions.

“You mean to tell me Bam’s with Kyle _fucking_ Rayner right now?” He growled. “Mr. Holier Than Thou Lantern himself?”

Bruce just stared at him impassively. Jason thumped both hands down on the desk and said, “I’m going to get him back. And then I’m taking him to Star City to work through the shit he’s already been through.”

“You will do no such thing, Todd,” Damian said from behind him. 

Jason whirled on him. “Stay out of this, Demon Brat.”

Damian stood in front of him, no weapons, no fighting stance. He didn’t move out of the way for Jason to leave either, though. 

Instead, he said, “Such actions would go strictly against Bam’s wishes. He intends to be part of the team to rescue Drake from the Tower, and as such, believes that he must take advantage of any strength at his disposal.” His eyes were at Jason’s chest, rather than his eyes.

“I do not- approve- of his choice either, but Bam must be free to make his own decisions,” he added.

Jason was still seething, but confusion was leaking through. “Whad’ya mean he’s gonna rescue Tim from the Tower?”

Bruce answered. Jason had nearly forgotten he was there. “Bam’s appearance to us happened in the wake of his attempting to enter some wish-granting Tower. Impulse had a bit of a meltdown when he heard Bam’s name, seemingly knowing that Bam’s existence was directly correlated with Tim’s disappearance.” 

“So I’m going with Impulse to get him back.” Bam’s voice echoed through the window. 

Jason’s eyes snapped up to see Bam in full Green Lantern regalia, hair seeming to defy gravity with the rest of him. Just behind his right shoulder stood none other than Kyle Rayner. 

“You’re a menace, Rayner. Don’t go indoctrinating Bammie here into any weird shit. He’s got enough problems as it is.” Jason knew he had to stay calm. Couldn’t explode in front of Bam. 

“I feel like you Bats are way more likely to do that. You’re almost like a cult,” Rayner poked. 

“Mr. Rayner isn’t a menace, Mr. Jason! He taught me how to fly,” Bam said. He glowed a little brighter as his emotions spiked. 

He turned to Rayner then. “And Mr. Bruce and his children are a family, Mr. Rayner. _My_ family. Please do not insult them.”

Huh. So the kid decided to adopt them this time. Jason snorted at the aghast look on Bruce’s face. 

“We- _hem_ \- we actually had something else we wanted to talk to you about, Bam,” Bruce said. Real smooth.

Bam floated in through the window, now opened. Rayner followed right behind him. 

Jason started. “We think it might be good for you to talk to someone.”

Bam frowned at him. “Am I not already talking to people? Impulse offered to bring me to meet the Titans-“

“No, Bam. We-well really it was Roy and me- we think you should talk to a professional about your time in the cave with Rachel,” Jason finished.

He waited for the disagreement. He waited for the outrage, but it never came. Instead, it looked like Bam was trying to figure out what-exactly- he meant, while Rayner was nodding in the back. 

“I hear Black Canary’s good. Helped the Titans on more than one occasion,” Rayner supplied.

“Yeah, she was Roy’s rec too,” Jason said.

“When can I meet her?” Bam asked, softly, still not really looking at anything.

***

When Hal told Kyle that he was going to have to train the newbie, Kyle had called him crazy. Kyle hadn’t gotten any training himself- he still wasn’t particularly good at working with the other GLs, and he’d never done _any_ work with kids. 

When he met Bam though, he wasn’t sure the kid actually needed a teacher. He was a natural. (Having the baby bat lobbing batarangs at his head wasn’t particularly encouraging either.) 

It was all worth it, though, the first time he took Bam to space. 

The sheer wonder in the kid’s eyes- it had been a long while since he’d seen that look on anyone. 

It had been a while since he’d seen anyone recite the oath unironically as well, but there Bam stood on Oa, before the Guardians, stance strong. 

“In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil’s might, beware my power: Green Lantern’s Light!” He was shouting by the end, green light flaring outwards around him. Kyle was almost blinded as he put his ring to the central power battery. 

Of course, the others were there: Hal and Guy and John. They’d even gotten Jo to come back from the far sector for the new kid’s initiation. 

“He certainly has potential,” John said, in the wake of the flare. 

“Why do I feel like my place as _the man without fear_ is being threatened?” Hal murmured. 

“It’s not. He’s planning on going on a rescue mission,” Kyle answered. 

Guy leaned into him. “What rescue mission? Why haven’t we heard about this?”

Kyle sighed. “He’s going after Red Robin. Most likely with Impulse. It’s alternate dimension stuff, or at least, that’s what it sounded like.”

“Please tell me he’s going to finish his training first,” Jo said. “It’d be a shame to lose him to something preventable.”

“They’re not going until he finishes training- _Batman’s_ orders. Not like Robin would let him go anyway.”

“Wait- he’s being trained by Spooky’s kid too?” Hal said, a bit too loud, if the glares were anything to go by.

Kyle refrained from answering as Bam came up to them again. The ceremony had finished. 

“I did it, Mr. Rayner! I’m officially a Green Lantern,” Bam was nearly floating in his excitement. 

Guy snorted. “Aren’t you proud of him, _Mr. Rayner_?” 

Kyle looked straight into Bam’s eyes then. “Yes Bam, I am proud. You did it.”

Of course, that meant he was one step closer to disappearing into that Tower himself. Kyle had resigned himself to that. All he could do was do his best to prepare Bam for any eventualities.


	7. Motifs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Approximately one year after Bam's appearance and Tim's disappearance, the rescue effort finally gets underway.

Bam sat, for the first time, in Titan’s Tower. Impulse had invited him along, to choose their teammate (possibly teammates) for the mission. He was surrounded by people his own age, but he couldn’t help feeling like he stuck out. 

Maybe it was the green glow. He still hadn’t figured out how to turn it off. 

Obviously, Impulse was there, ready to get things going. There was also, though, a blonde girl in a sparkling bodysuit (not unlike the Batgirl uniform Stephanie wore), a boy wearing the Superman S under a leather jacket, a floating girl with green skin, and a person who seemed to be trapped in some sort of blue armor. 

“So Green Lantern here has already volunteered to go,” Impulse said. “I’m going too, as the person who was supposed to prevent Red Robin from disappearing in the first place.”

“Why should he get to go? He didn’t even know RR!” the blonde girl objected. 

“It’s possible my being here is what caused Red Robin to enter the Tower in the first place. That’s where I was trying to get. Besides,” Bam smiled at her, “You all seem to care about him a lot. If I can bring him back to you without endangering any of you, I will.”

Up until that moment, Bam hadn’t even considered going it alone. Sitting in front of Timothy Drake’s friends, though, he couldn’t help but think Tim himself would want to protect them. Would want to keep them from harm. 

“Why can we not all go on this mission?” The green girl asked. 

“We don’t know how this Tower works at all, Miss M. We might have restrictions on how many people can form teams and stuff like that,” Impulse explained.

“So how many were you thinking?” The person in blue asked. 

“We were considering one more person to round us out to three,” Impulse answered. 

“Ah,” the person in blue said. “That rules out Kaji Dah and myself.”

“Sorry Blue Beetle,” Impulse winced. “And Kaji Dah.”

“Do we know if there will be a connection to the gods?” The Blonde girl asked.

“We don’t really know much of anything. It’s likely that there won’t be though. From what I can tell, we’re dealing with alternate dimensional things.”

She nodded. 

“I’ll go,” the boy in the Superman shirt said. “Rob was one of my first friends.”

“You might not have powers in there, SB. You sure you want to do this?” Impulse asked.

“He would do the same for any of us,” The boy, who must have been Superboy, answered, nodding. “And if I _do_ still have my powers in there, they’ll be a distinct advantage.”

“Unless TTK is super common or something,” Blue Beetle offered. 

Superboy raised one eyebrow. “Really though, it’s up to Impulse who he wants to take with him. He could choose any of us.”

Everyone was looking at Impulse to make the decision. Bam was not immune either. He would understand if Impulse decided to take two of his long term friends instead of bringing him. 

Impulse took a breath. “I’m going to take Superboy and Green Lantern. Even if we all lose our powers in there, those two will be fine, and even though it’s not much, GL knows more about the tower than any of us.” It only came out slightly rushed. 

“Besides,” he added, looking right at the blonde girl. “Someone’s got to lead the Titans while we’re gone. Who better than Wondergirl herself?” 

The girl- Wondergirl- looked away, but she was smiling. “Alright fine, I get it. You’re real sorry but you need someone to rangle these goofs.”

“And the Justice League,” Superboy added. “Sometimes they need a more… _juvenile_ perspective.”

“Just promise you’ll come back,” Wondergirl said. 

“We will,” Bam asserted, glowing a bit brighter. “With Red Robin.”

***

The Teen Titans were collected on the roof of Titan’s Tower, preparing a send off for team _Rescue Red Robin_. All three Flashes were there as well, as were Mr. Rayner, Mr. Jordan, and Mr. Superman. Bam was certain his new family was there as well, hiding somewhere in the shadows. 

Oh, there was Mr. Batman, fussing over Impulse. Bam saw a flash of something that looked like one of Impulse’s protein bars. In the background, the middle Mr. Flash was bent over laughing.

Superboy was having a… moment with Mr. Superman. It was clear Mr. Superman cared a lot about Superboy, even if they weren’t close. Maybe- maybe they could get close once they got home. 

“You’re gonna do fine, kid.” Mr. Jordan said, approaching Bam. “Just remember, you don’t need to be fearless. You just need to _overcome_ that fear.”

“Ha! Says _the man without fear_ ,” Mr. Rayner said. 

“Thank you, Mr. Jordan, for the advice. I’ll try to keep it in mind,” Bam said.

“Oh, Bam? You have your lantern with you, right?”

“Yes, Mr. Rayner.”

“And your utility belt is on under the Lantern uniform?”

“Yes, Mr. Rayner.”

“And-“

“Mr. Batman, Mr. Nightwing, and Miss Black Bat made sure I was well equipped besides my lantern, Mr. Rayner,” Bam said. 

“Careful, Rayner, your Star Sapphire is showing,” Mr. Red Hood said as he approached. 

Mr. Jordan jumped. “Jeez, Hood. You’re nearly as bad as Spooky. Give a guy a little warning.”

“Says the man without fear,” Mr. Red Hood said. 

Mr. Arsenal and Miss Starfire ran up following him. (Well, Mr. Arsenal sprinted. Miss Starfire could fly.)

“Friend Bam! It has been too long since our last meeting, and already you are going away. I wish to do the hugs with you before you go,” Miss Starfire said.

“Of course, Miss Starfire,” Bam said. Before he could raise his arms, he was swept up in Miss Starfire’s warm, strong embrace. 

“You’d better put him down before you crush him,” Mr. Arsenal said. “‘Sides, the rest of us need a turn too.”

Miss Starfire put him down, only for him to be tackled from behind. 

“I’ll miss you too, Black Bat,” Bam laughed as his quiet friend climbed off him. 

“You come back,” she ordered, adding in sign, _“I do miss Tim, but you are my brother too. I can’t lose you both.”_

Bam signed back, _“You’re not losing anyone.”_

Bam felt a tug on the back of his uniform. He turned around to see Robin, holding hands with the very small son of Mr. Superman. 

“Superboy wanted to meet you before your mission,” Robin said. The mask covered his eyes, but Bam was sure he wasn’t looking directly at him. 

Bam crouched down in front of the younger Superboy. “It’s nice to meet you, Superboy. I’m Green Lantern.”

“I know,” Young Superboy said, voice soft. He looked Bam right in the eyes and added, “It’s nice to meet you too.”

Bam nearly fell over with the force of Superboy’s hug. The child had planted his face in Bam’s chest, clinging to him. 

“Robin says you’re really nice and kind and a good student, and I think you make him happy, so please make sure you come back because I don’t know what I’ll do if he’s sad,” Superboy said, muffled by his position. 

Bam ruffled his hair. “Don’t worry, Superboy. I wouldn’t want to make him sad either. I’m just going to go get his brother and come back, ok?”

Superboy nodded, still clinging to Bam. 

“In the meantime,” Bam whispered conspiratorially to him, “I think Robin could use a new student. He might start trying to order his older brothers around without one.”

Robin didn’t say anything, but he did look pointedly away from them. Unfortunately, that meant he ended up looking right at Mr. Red Hood, who had what Mr. Harper called his _roguish grin_ on. Bam finally did fall over in laughter. 

“Cease your laughter at once, Lantern Bam. It is unbecoming,” Robin said, still not really looking at him. 

“I’ll miss you too,” Bam said. 

Before Robin could protest, Impulse and the older Superboy were beckoning Bam over. Impulse was edging slowly away from the Justice League heroes who had come to see him off. His belt was stuffed full of snacks. 

“See you around, Dami,” Bam said, standing up and ruffling his hair. Younger Superboy let him go. 

“See you… Bam,” Robin replied. 

Bam smiled as he made his way over to Impulse and the older Superboy. They were leaving, but Bam would do everything in his power to bring them all back. 

“You guys ready?” Bam asked, once he’d reached his teammates.

“Way ready,” Impulse answered. “The question is, are you?”

Bam nodded once, determined. He took each of his teammates by the hand and closed his eyes. _I am The Twenty-Fifth Bam. I have the ability to overcome great fear. I am strong of will, and what I will… is for the three of us to climb the Tower!_

When Bam next opened his eyes, he was faced with the strangest Rabbit he had ever seen. 


	8. Characterization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As much as climbing the Tower resembles a video game, the rules aren't nearly that strict. Connor finds this out the hard way.

The team emerged from the void in the middle of a field of grass. 

“Just like home,” Connor said, looking around. “Nothing but flat and grass.”

A slight sound to his left caused him to amend his statement. “And maybe some other Tower-climbing-candidates.”

_Welcome, Regulars, to Evankhell’s Floor. The rules for the first test are simple- there are 400 Regulars. Narrow that down to 200._

Connor winced at the voice, high pitched and echoing around him. What did they mean anyway, narrow 400 down to 200? 

The answer came in the form of a spear bouncing off his TTK. 

“Impulse, GL, be careful! I think we’ve been dropped into some sort of battle royale,” he said, getting ready to brawl. “Impulse, there’s range weapons. They won’t affect me, but they’re still distracting, and they pose a danger to the other Regulars.”

“On it!” Bart said, before disappearing in a flash of yellow lightning. 

“I’ll try and get to a better vantage point -- see if I can determine better positioning for you two,” Bam said. “That box up there looks like it might be a good spot.”

“All right. Watch out for projectiles up there.”

Their Green Lantern was gone in a streak of light. 

At that, the sounds of fighting all around Connor dimmed to almost nothing. He heard the soft tap of Bam landing, followed by his shout as he lost his footing. 

“What’s going on? Why did everyone just stop?” Bart asked, coming to a halt just next to Connor, his arms full of weapons. 

“They’ve never seen a Lantern before, obviously,” Connor said. 

Just then, Bam yelped. “Guys, I think there might be someone in the box!” 

Connor looked up just in time to see the box shake hard enough to dislodge his friend, who immediately went into freefall. 

“Bam!” he shouted, launching up himself to catch him. 

Before he reached Bam, though, the ring reignited, surrounding Bam in a soft green glow and slowing his descent. 

“Do you think it counts as _reducing the number of Regulars_ if they’re just unconscious?” Bam asked as they floated back down to Impulse. “I don’t-I don’t think I can kill another person.”

“And we shouldn’t have to, Ba-”

“Lookout!” Impulse shouted as he ran into them at the speed of sound. Connor was momentarily blinded by the lightning. 

“Jeez, and I thought GL here was bright, you been training that in secret or what, Impulse?” Connor asked.

“That wasn’t me!” Bart said as he dodged out of the way of something else. 

Sure enough, embedded in the ground where Bart had been less than a second before, there was a spear crackling with electricity. Only, it wasn’t only electrically charged. A closer look revealed that it was electricity. 

“Look out!” Bam shouted, throwing up a construct barrier as another electricity spear flew at them. It dissipated as soon as it hit the light. 

Out of the grass, on the other side of the barrier, filtered a boy with pale blue coloring and electricity crackling through his hair. There was tension in his face, like he was working really hard at not breaking out into a manic grin. As Connor observed him, a ball of electricity formed in his right hand, lengthening out into a spear not unlike the ones Bart and Bam had protected them from.

“Are you a member of the Khun family?” the boy asked, staring directly at Bart. 

Bart fidgeted nervously. “Uh… not as far as I know. Why do you ask?” His tone brightened for the question, though Connor was pretty sure it was performative. He looked ready to bolt.

Instead of answering, the boy threw the electric spear at him. Bart ran to the side, his skidding stop digging two trails in the dirt. “Woah, hey, that was uncalled for!” he said, as the Speedforce lightning dissipated around him.

“Regardless of your heritage, you are all powerful opponents.” A smaller ball of electricity formed in his left hand, roughly the size of a gumball. “I will give you my all.”

Much to Connor’s horror, the kid popped the ball of electricity in his mouth. Connor could feel his hair standing on end from the ambient static as soon as the kid swallowed. Electricity began to arc off him in earnest. Connor could feel goosebumps raising on his skin at the look the kid was giving him- though that may have actually been the static again.

He smirked, crouching low. “Alright then. You wanna mess with the S? I’m not gonna stop you.” 

“Superboy,” Bam said, in warning. 

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill him. This is how I make friends. ‘Sides, this frees you and Impulse up to run damage control on the rest of this sick game.”

Bart interjected, “Just be careful, alright?”

“Yeah yeah. Now scram you two. You got a job to do.” With that, Connor launched himself at Sparky Boy, more than ready for a beat down. 

On the edges of his vision, Connor saw his friends shoot off in opposite directions, one a streak of brilliant green and the other a series of bright yellow afterimages. He was closing on Sparky fast, ready for impact. 

He was not ready to get electrocuted before he even got close. 

Sparky’s accuracy was no joke! That spear hit him dead-center of his chest. If it wasn’t for his TTK, Connor would have been dead on the spot. As it was, he still lay on the ground, twitching. 

Sparky came to stand over him, another spear at the ready. “Such a shame. I thought, what with you flying and all, that you’d be stronger.” He looked genuinely disappointed. 

“Is that magic?” Connor wheezed in reply. “I hate magic. Magic and monkeys. Terrible, awful, no good things.” 

Sparky seemed caught off guard. “Do you not recognize the _shinsoo_ of a direct son of Khun?” 

“Uh… no?” Connor said, before he launched upward fist first, right into Sparky’s surprised mug. 

Connor floated as Sparky got up. “That… actually hurt,” Sparky said, shocked. Then, the manic grin finally released itself. “Perhaps you will make a decent opponent after all.” 

A new spear started to form in his hand. Connor only panicked for a moment before deciding that his best bet was just to charge in before the kid could charge up. Moments like these, he was glad that TTK didn’t have any wait time. 

He zipped in with all the grace of a piece of space junk, crashing into Sparky before he could form a spear. Unfortunately, he still managed to shock Connor pretty bad.

Connor stood up, holding his head. “Ugh… less like an ATB system than I thought then.” He shook off the spasms of the electricity as much as he could. “Maybe if I can lob something heavy enough at him…”

There was nothing around, but the ground felt pretty solid. After digging his fingers into the dirt and dodging another spear, he decided it was too crumbly for what he was thinking. One of the outcrops might work, if he could get to it!

In one of the strangest decisions of his very short life, Connor Kent zipped _past_ his enemy, through the air, toward a protruding rock. He also flew over several other stunned Tower hopefuls who stared and pointed as he passed. Even more people, including Sparky, openly gawked as he used his TTK to break off and lift a large chunk of the outcrop. 

He couldn’t help grinning. Yes, he was the Boy of Steel- and now the Tower hopefuls could see it. Probably.

He threw the rock in Sparky’s direction. His aim had never been particularly good though, and the kid used spears, so it wound up shattering somewhere to the kid’s side. Connor winced as a piece of the ensuing rubble nearly clipped Bart. 

“Sorry!” he shouted, before launching himself back in towards Sparky. Now he knew though, ranged attacks were a bad idea. 

“Need a hand?” Bart asked, grinning, despite nearly being knocked out by a random piece of rock.

“Maybe… all of his attacks are energy based, and _man_ do they hurt,” Connor replied. 

“Alright! Impulse to the rescue,” he said before sprinting in Sparky’s direction, trailing bright yellow Speedforce lightning as he went. 

A streak of green appeared incoming from the opposite direction- Bam then. Connor grinned. With all three of them together, they would be unstoppable. 

Before anything could come together though, all of the ambient static just disappeared. Connor was close enough that he could watch the light go out of the kid’s eyes - the resigned look coming over his face - and then watch as those brilliant blue eyes rolled back in his head and his body collapsed into Bam’s arms.

“Is he ok?” Connor asked, coming to a stop. 

“I think he’s just unconscious-” Bam started, before he was interrupted by that high pitched voice again.

“Congratulations! The first test is now over. Your next test will begin shortly. You will have five minutes to find two other teammates. As long as you are touching at the end of those five minutes, you count!” The voice paused for a moment, the cube in the sky dimming before brightening once again. “Your time begins… NOW!”

“Only teams of three? Shoot,” Bam said, still clinging to Sparky.

“We’re going to have to leave him behind,” Connor said, holding out his hand for Bam. 

“I’m going to see if I can find him any teammates. There’s gotta be a group looking for one more,” Bam insisted.

“Bam, there’s no time! Even if you find him one, you’re not going to make it back in time,” Connor tried not to shout. Now wasn’t the time to be getting angry. Even as he could feel the minutes ticking down. 

“If I latch onto Impulse after dropping him off with someone, we’ll make it back.”

“Or, we could all travel together, drop the kid off, and then touch. That’s probably our safest bet,” Bart interjected. He looked at Connor as sternly as he was capable of (which was to say, not very sternly, but he was trying). 

Connor sighed and took to the sky again. “Fine. We’ll find him teammates.”

Four minutes later, Sparky had been dropped on some unsuspecting Tower hopefuls who were quaking in their boots, and all six had been transported to the next stage. 

Connor was already sick of all the tests.


End file.
